Posts By: Harry Shipps

Below is the latest America Forward “Tip Sheet,” a weekly update on Federal activity related to education, workforce development, and other priorities of the America Forward Coalition.   Last Week in Washington   Last weekend, President Biden was in Europe for the G-7 Summit, where world leaders engaged on shared priorities, including COVID-19 pandemic response, vaccine distribution, climate change, and

Last week, President Joe Biden released his full FY2022 budget request. The full request comes approximately 6 weeks after the President released his discretionary (or “skinny”) budget request on April 9. At the time, America Forward wrote that the President’s proposal, which directed billions in new funding to non-defense discretionary priorities, represented a “potentially transformative investment in our education and

In his first address to Congress on Wednesday, President Joe Biden outlined plans for historic federal investment in students, workers, families, and communities across the country. Together, the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan represent more than $4 trillion in new funding intended to speed recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and fulfill the President’s commitment to turn “peril

By Melina Kiper, America Forward Advocacy Manager   Last week, Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) were joined by a bipartisan coalition of eight Democrats and seven Republicans to reintroduce the “Cultivating Opportunity and Recovery from the Pandemic through Service (CORPS) Act.” In addition to increasing national service positions for the next three years to support recovery efforts

Earlier today, President Joe Biden released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Discretionary Budget Request - his “skinny budget."  The release did not include detailed agency-by-agency budget estimates, which will be sent out in the month of May, but the initial funding targets will allow the FY22 budget process to begin on Capitol Hill.  Congressional appropriators will now start drafting the

On Thursday, March 11, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion package in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Below, please find a statement from America Forward about the impact of the bill and what comes next. "The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 delivers urgently needed support to communities across the country, and

America Forward released the following statement after the U.S. Senate voted, 64-33, to confirm Dr. Miguel Cardona as the next U.S. Secretary of Education: We congratulate Secretary Cardona on his historic confirmation by the full Senate - the final vote was a signal of lawmakers' confidence in Secretary Cardona's ability to lead the Department of Education's efforts to safely reopen

As students, families, educators, and school communities across the country work to respond to and recover from the convergent crises of the past year, evidence-based, holistic supports are more important than ever.  On February 10, 2021, the House Committee on Education and Labor passed a budget reconciliation bill that would enact key provisions of President Joe Biden’s “American Rescue Plan.”

On Wednesday, February 3, Dr. Miguel Cardona, current Connecticut Commissioner of Education and President Joe Biden’s nominee for U.S. Secretary of Education, appeared before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee for his confirmation hearing.  Prior to the hearing, America Forward had expressed our support for Dr. Cardona’s nomination - sending a letter to HELP Committee Chair

Below, please find a statement from America Forward in response to the House Education and Labor Committee budget reconciliation bill, introduced by Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) yesterday: "As we said when it was first released publicly earlier this year, President Biden's 'American Rescue Plan' 'would direct substantial and much-needed resources' to America's education system.  We are deeply encouraged that the